The Peace We Tried To Keep

[Ray Brookes]

A rehash of an old song.


Your own-goal lies; small print eyes
Your park-bench arguments; tied to some splintered mast
Those touch-screen moods and family feuds
How did we ever think that this could really last
All those malevolent murmurs mumbled under your breath
You, your sister your mother like a scene from Macbeth
We tried so hard, so hard we should've tried some more
My signals strong but your reception poor
The peace we tried to keep was worse
Worse than any war.

Those train–wreck tears; selective ears
Your spit and sawdust, empty pocket friends
Fake platitudes; poetic attitudes
Those bumper sticker philosophies and token gesture trends
Your dated, antiquated phony language
Turning every situation to your own advantage
We tried so hard, we should've tried some more
How come every act of love was just another chore
The peace we tried to keep was worse
Worse than any war.

That restaurant scene; so very keen
To be seen as misconstrued from head to toes
A sleeping beast. Our fragile peace
Your jolly, Pretty Polly, shopping trolley bargain basement clothes
I remember freezing in the ice of your despair
All for a good cause but I guess we won't go there
We tried so hard, we should've tried some more
Our loaded dice vows read out like a football score
The peace we tried to keep was worse
Worse than any war.

[thetworegs]

Excellent lyrics excellent production as I've come to expect in fact all round excellent hope you had a good Chrimbo & new year

[Frank53]

Brilliant lyrics, Ray. Powerful, emotional; full of sadness, resignation, and an underlying anger. Such effective use of language. The persistent music is a perfect match for the poignant story. Third listen already. Really enjoyed this.

[DarrenG / The Devil's Toupee]

Happy new year ray. Great to hear the first song from you of 2023.
This is a cracker, I like the way of starts off gentle and then you ramp it up in the middle.
Awesome songwriting and performance again.

Darren

[Farrell Jackson]

A great song with thought-out lyric. A story that is relatable to many, I'm sure. Cool vocals and music!

[TPB]

What a great song to open the new year smoking lyrics and as always, the musical delivery is on the money
Tim

[Rene Asologuitar]

Superb lyrics, your words are so lovely, and the storytelling is definitely loved!
I am digging the melody and the singing.
Reminds me of Paul Simon for some reason.
Beautiful song and great recording.
Well done.
Rene

[BerryPatch]

Great to hear you do a heavier sorta track! The lyrics cut like knives here and your vocals are strong, especially in the chorus. Great stuff!

[StephenM]

This song is so good especially reading the lyrics as it flows along...

the music is superb and so pro, as is the recording.  To be honest this reminds me of Asia, one of my top 5 bands, and John Wetton (Rip sir) was my favorite musician.  He got to your level of songwriting.  Of course he had Geoff Downes helping on keys and he is a wizard.  Then of course he could generally count on the drums of Carl Palmer and guitars of Steve Howe..

If i heard this along in my list of Asia songs I would think "how did I miss this one?"

congratulations man.... it's a real beauty.

[T.C. Elliott]

This is an amazing arrangement. I love the dynamics in this song. Good melody and good peformances all around. The very first half line had me thinking and the rest of the lyric kept me pondering the meaning. I feel this song is definitely deeper than the typical good sounding track. I appreciate the fact that I'm digging both the musical and lyrical elements while at the same time I can just sit back and enjoy the song as a whole. I think you've got a stellar one here.